For two weeks in October we cruised with Viking from Amsterdam to Budapest, going through Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, on the great rivers of Europe, the Rhine, the Main and the Danube. The ship was the Viking Lif, one of their new “long boats” almost 500 feet long, 38 feet wide and carrying 192 passengers (we had 187), plus crew.
The food on the Lif was exceptionally good, with many choices, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Although we sometimes ate ashore for our own enjoyment, we were never disappointed when we ate on the boat. And at mealtimes the wine flowed freely from Erhard MÅrwald’s vineyard in the Wachau Valley of Austria.
Every evening we received the Viking Daily with the schedule for the next day, times for meals, times for tours, docking hours, notes on the next port of call, suggestions for sightseeing and other interesting tidbits. There was some form of entertainment every evening and sometimes a lecture or demonstration in the morning or afternoon depending on docking schedules. One of the most interesting was a glass blowing demonstration by a glass blower from Wertheim, Germany who spends a few months each year with Chihuly in the United States.
Our cabin was one of the less expensive on the lower deck with only a half window and no space for a chair, but it was perfectly adequate with lots of storage space, a controllable heat and air-conditioning thermostat, a fine bathroom with shower and heated floor, a long desk-table, a small refrigerator, and a TV. Cabins on the two upper decks had balconies, but we made good use of the public spaces, the sun deck when the weather permitted, the large Lounge and the forward open deck. Our room steward was there every morning to freshen us up while we were off to breakfast.